by Rachel Jennine Goudey, Psy.D, C-IAYT
The many practices that fall under the umbrella of Yoga may mean different things to different people. We come to these practices for different reasons, drawn to different aspects of what Yoga has to offer. And yet, at the end of the day I believe that we are all searching and longing for the same things: to feel safe, loved, and seen. For me, the thing I keep coming back to, that I am always saying to my students, is that Yoga is a practice of the heart.
I believe therapy is the same thing essentially. We are investigating and working through patterns that have blocked us and kept our hearts shut down. Past experiences have injured us in some way, leaving us feeling unsafe, unloved, and unseen.
My approach to mental health and therapy is an integrative one. Trained as a Clinical Psychologist, I spent many years working in a traditional Western approach. There was always something in it for me that wasn’t working; wasn’t complete. What I believe was missing from the therapy process was a connection, or a reconnection rather, to one’s spirit. Some people may think of spirit as having to do with religion, but what I am referring to here is an essence, a vital life force. Spirit has been defined as, “an animating or vital principle held to give life to physical organisms” (Merriam Webster.)
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is a foundation of Yin Yoga, our spirit (Shen) resides in the heart when it is seen, loved and feels safe. In order to feel seen, loved and safe we must be able to fully look at ourselves, in all of our pain, rather than look away from it. I feel that Yoga, as a therapeutic process and practice, addresses the ever-varying state of humanness within the individual, seeking to help them integrate the parts of themselves that might be scary or painful, and feel whole again. In the traditional forms of western therapy I saw a system trying to “fix” what was “broken” by trying to get rid of it rather than integrate it. This is why I call my approach Integrative Yoga Therapy. I work by integrating multiple traditions and modalities, while helping my clients to integrate the different parts of themselves in a compassionate and loving way.
The body gives us direct access to our pain stories, and thus to our healing stories. Working within the body, we quickly start to realize, notice, and connect to those stories. When we are guided in a gentle way to really be in-touch with the body we increase interoception – the knowing of inner sensations and inner dialogues that come through the cells, the fascia, the muscles, the organs, the ingrained memories in the body. By now many of you have probably heard the phrase, the book title, The Body Keeps the Score, as well as statements like, “the issues are in the tissues,” or “every cell in your body is eavesdropping on your thoughts.” Our mental and emotional health, our generational and genetic health and trauma, and our own personal lived experiences of health and trauma are all alive in the body. The sensations, whether of pain or ease, are what animate us, what give us our spirit. Yoga therapy is what brings spirit into therapy. Through practice we create a movement of what has become stuck in us from fear and trauma, so that we can dance through our lives and rewrite our stories of pain into stories of transformation and growth, thinking, speaking, and moving from a place of love.
Please join Rachel for her 8 week Integrative Yoga Therapy and Support Group for Trauma, Tue. March 7 – April 25 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm PT (8 Tuesdays).
And you can experience Therapeutic Yoga and Sound Healing on Sun. March 19 @ 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm PT with Rachel and Sevika; support your body, mind and spirit to relax, rejuvenate, and heal. No prior yoga experience is necessary.
Rachel Jennine Goudey, Psy.D., C-IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist, Educator and Doctor of Psychology. Specializing in trauma work and embodied practices for nervous system integration, Rachel helps clients increase their capacity for joy and love in life through somatic movement, breath work, sound healing, self-reflection, and cultivating healthy life choices.
Rachel brings years of mental health experience working with at-risk and underserved populations, integrating Eastern and Western practices to help clients move past symptom relief into true healing. She has brought holistic yoga programs and professional trainings on yoga for mental health into community mental health centers, hospitals and schools. Rachel’s aim is to guide individuals into states of peace and trust in their life’s story through the mind and body, create community, and bring the teachings and practices of yoga into various settings around the world. Rachel’s classes meet each student where they are at while still challenging them to reach new heights of self-realization, acceptance, and strength and flexibility, both on and off of the mat. She will push you to challenge yourself while also guiding you to listen to your body and intuition, teaching from a place of authenticity, passion and playfulness. To learn more about Rachel and her work visit Rachel Jennine Wellness.